What is Upholstery

The materials used to fill and cover seats, chairs, settees and other furniture requiring it is referred to as upholstery. There are various types of materials that may be used in upholstery including leather, vinyl, foam and cotton padding. Upholstery work can be used to restore furniture that has been used and worn. However, it is worthwhile to consider how much reupholstering will cost versus buying a new item of the furniture that is damaged. Sometimes upholstering can cost so much, it is more inexpensive to simply replace the furniture item.

About Automotive Upholstery

Although upholstering can be used in a variety of settings on a wide variety of furniture items, it is also typically used in automotive vehicles as well. Dashboards, car seats and car floors all require automotive upholstery work to give the interior of the vehicle functionality as well as a pleasing, and often luxurious appearance. The interior of a vehicle is probably the part of it that the owner will spend the most time looking at and being in contact with, therefore it should be important to owner to have quality upholstering work done, and if there needs to be repairs, this should be done as well to preserve the value and comfort of the vehicle.
The person who does automotive upholstery work is usually known as a trimmer, coach-trimmer or motor trimmer. The term coach trimmer is derived from the days when car bodies were produced by manufacturers and delivered to coach-builders to add a car body and the interior trimmings of the vehicle. Trimmers would then produce soft furnishings, carpets, soft tops, and roof linings, often to specially made orders with customer specifications. Later on, Trim shops were often an in-house part of the production line as the production process was broken down into smaller parts manageable by semi-skilled labor. For persons in this trade, they must have all the skills required for upholstery work, plus the ability to work with carpets. These skills are necessary as automotive upholsterers will usually have to install a car with its carpeting as well as create the upholstery for the seats.
Many automotive trimmers presently work in either automotive design or with aftermarket trim shops that specialize in carrying out repairs, refurbishing, restorations, customizations and conversions according to direct customer specifications. A few high quality motor vehicle manufacturers still employ trimmers, especially the very expensive car brands like Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Land Rover, Bentley, Rolls Royce and Ferrari. Today, the market is changing so much, and manufacturers are prone to cutting corners, that it is a better idea to use a trim shop to use aftermarket materials. Adding a personal touch by customizing a motor car’s interior can be an excellent way to show originality while retaining the retail value of the vehicle, or even increasing it at times. Currently, trip shops are equipped with higher quality, longer lasting, and better color fastness, than many automotive manufacturers are.